THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1915. THE NATIONAL RESERVE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15824, 22 January 1915, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 1915. THE NATIONAL RESERVE.

! Since the outbreak of war volunteering enthusiasm in New Zealand has been mainly directed to the organisation of an expeditionary force for service abroad. This unquestionably, is New Zealand's first duty. It cannot be said that we have yet done all that is required of us in the despatch and enrolment of men for active service, but we have reached a stage at which public attention may be freely directed to the place filled by the National Reserve without danger of checking enlistment in the expeditionary force. Until the war has been closed on terms satisfactory to the Allied Powers New Zealanders will be going forth in drafts to maintain, and, if necessary, to increase, the strength of the force which is now in training in Egypt, and which may soon be in the battle-field. For the material to fill these drafts the Defence Department must look mainly to young and vigorous New Zealanders who have no immediate dependents. The National Reserve opens a less strenuous but still useful and necessary place for men whose years and responsibilities bind them to their homes. Its purpose is to train men for the defence of New Zealand in case of need. It, therefore, makes a peculiar appeal to men who have their permanent homes in the Dominion and whose families are proud to call themselves New Zealanders. There are few New Zealanders who are unable to spare the evening per week required by the National Reserve, and still fewer who are unwilling to give such service. The main difficulty of the organisation has been to convince potential recruits that their services are needed. It has to break down the feeling that because the danger is remote the preparation is superfluous. This attitude is 'so peculiarly British that New Zealanders can be freely pardoned for adopting it. In Great Britain, as in New Zealand, in Canada-, and in Australia, volunteering for service in war time is considered a slight sacrifice compared with the drudgery of training when the danger seems distant. But the past six months should have taught us that even a remote contin-! gency is worth preparing for. . A year ago Great Britain paid a listless ear to the warnings of the late Lord Roberts ; to-day hundreds of thousands, of all ages, are eagerly drilling, so that they may be prepared to resist a possible invasion.

Many sands are now training in England with no better equipment than is offered to the National Reserve in Auckland. They are nearer to the enemy than New Zealand ; at the -moment they have a keener appreciation of the risk of in-' vasion ; but New Zealand is no safer now than England was a year ago, when there was no thought of: battlecruiser raids upon Scarborough, or of aircraft flying over Yarmouth. If Germany had a free hand to plant her flag where her ambitions direct her, no country in the World would be in greater danger of witnessing a repetition of the horrors of Belgium than the Dominion of New Zealand. When New Zealanders fully grasp' this the National Reserve will be-1 come a representative national organisation, including in its active membership every citizen fit for training. Only through volunteering can New Zealand hope for the early establishment of a National Reserve whose members will be able to give a good account of themselves in defence of their homes. The universal training movement is still in its infancy. In time it will automatically furnish the reserve of trained men that New Zealand needs. But the war has found us without even the nucleus of a reserve force, except the few ex-volunteers who patriotically gave the time wherewith to make themselves efficient soldiers before the moral obligation became compulsory and universal. Many of them have gone on active service; many others are giving valuable assistance in the training camps and in the National Reserve. The Reserve welcomes men, trained or untrained, from all walks of life, and puts, them all on the same level. The only exceptions are those physically unfit, those liable on account of age for territorial training, and those already enrolled in the Territorial Reserve. The movement is a thoroughly national one, the organisation being on a basis similar to that of the Home Guards in England. Otago, which did least for the Expeditionary Force, has done most for the National Reserve. Auckland has a membership of 600, but half this number have transferred to the Expeditionary Force, leaving an active membership of about 300. Much more than this is required, but once the practical purpose of the organisation has been thoroughly grasped its membership should grow many fold.

The National Reserve has hitherto been training unostentatiously. Its organisation was under way before the outbreak of war. It is an officially recognised and properly constituted part of the military organisation of the Dominion. Training is thereby given to infantry, field artillery, garrison artillery, field engineers, cavalry, and ambulance sec-

tions, and arrangements are being made to organise a signalling squad and a ladies' Red Cross brigade. The greater part of the training is given by sergeant-majors attached to the permanent force, who are assisted by officers of the A Battery for artillery drill, and by medical men for ambulance training. Members of the Reserve have been drilling since November. They now hope by an organised suburban campaign to enrol a large number of recruits. It is a movement that appeals to every physically fit male in the community without limitation of age or occupation. None can know too little to be trained to the point of usefulness, and none who know enough to be able to make the training of the whole body easier should stand aside. The Reserve and its patriotic work for the defence of New (Zealand may be safely commended to the immediate and serious consideration of every citizen of Auckland.